Bibliometric analysis of the thematic, structural, and social aspects of research in dance medicine and dance science from 2007 to 2024

Introduction Scientific peer-reviewed journals are crucial for disseminating scholarly information. Bibliometrics, the application of statistical methods to analyze academic literature, offers a quantitative approach to evaluate research output, assess quality, and examine patterns in publication, authorship, and thematic trends. This study employed bibliometric analysis to comprehensively examine the landscape of Dance Medicine and Science (DMS) research, including its quality, demographic characteristics, and thematic evolution. This study aimed to fill this gap by analyzing the dissemination of DMS research output between 2007-2024 using bibliometric indicators. We sought to answer key questions about the field's annual scientific production, publication venues, journal comparisons, geographical distribution of authors, cross-institutional and international collaborations, gender parity in authorship, and thematic trends in current DMS research. Methods: Using the Web of Science Core Collection© Digital library, we filtered articles using dance-related search terms: "dance", "science", "medicine", and "education". From this search, we extracted 2,750 peer-reviewed articles to construct our analyses. We utilized visualisation of similarity (VOS) software as well as descriptive statistics to tabularise, visualize, and explore bibliometric maps of science and medical articles related to dance. Results: The Journal of Dance Medicine & Science (JDMS) led in quantity of publications with over 304 articles in the seventeen-year period. Most DMS research is produced by authors in North America, Europe, and Australia, primarily examining Western dance styles. We observed a higher proportion of feminine names among first authors in DMS research, though further analysis is needed to understand overall gender distribution across all author positions. The field showed an annual growth rate average of 11.04% in publications. Our network analysis revealed distinct clusters of research themes, highlighting the multidisciplinary nature of DMS. Conclusions: Our analysis revealed significant growth in DMS research over the studied period. The Journal of Dance Medicine & Science emerged as the leading publication venue. Geographically, we found a concentration of research output from North America, Europe, and Australia, highlighting potential areas for expanding international collaboration. Gender distribution among authors was nearly balanced, with a slight majority of female first authors. Thematic analysis identified three primary research clusters: injury prevention, performance enhancement, and dance education, providing insight into the field's current focus areas. These findings offer a comprehensive overview of the DMS field, illustrating its evolution, key contributors, and emerging research themes, while also identifying areas for future development and collaboration.

Citation

Brown-Allenzeller, D., Coogan, S., Sheth, S., Wyon, M., Ambegaonkar, J. (2025) Bibliometric analysis of the thematic, structural, and social aspects of research in dance medicine and dance science from 2007 to 2024. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science. DOI: 10.1177/1089313X251362365

Type

Journal article

Language

en

Description

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by SAGE in IADMS on 28/08/2025, available online: https://doi.org/10.1177/1089313X251362365 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.

ISSN

1089-313X

EISSN

2374-8060

Collections

Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre